NEW YORK, June 18. /TASS/. At least two US Navy destroyers, along with escort vessels, are engaged in deflecting Iranian strikes on Israeli soil, the ABC News TV channel reported citing sources.
Since the onset of the Israeli operation on June 13, USS The Sullivans and USS Arleigh Burke, both Arleigh Burke-class destroyers situated in the eastern Mediterranean, have been protecting the country’s territory against Iran’s ballistic missiles. Earlier this week, the USS Thomas Hudner, also an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, arrived in the region to throw some extra weight behind Israel while the USS Arleigh Burke left the area.
Meanwhile, aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, escorted by four military vessels, was in the Arabian Sea. Its mission is not to participate in Israeli air defense but rather to ensure the security of US Middle Eastern military bases.
TASS learned earlier from a US military official that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz’s strike group should arrive in the region at the end of June to replace the USS Carl Vinson, and ABC News later confirmed this. The latter will then return to its home base in the US.
Simultaneously, several destroyers of the US Navy continue to patrol the waters of the Red Sea, the TV channel said, citing sources.
Overnight into June 13, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, aimed at Iran’s nuclear program. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 200 fighter jets attacked more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities.
On the evening of June 13, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that Iran retaliated by attacking dozens of targets in Israel with missiles, including military facilities and air bases, striking, in particular, the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. In the following days, Israel and Iran exchanged more strikes. Both sides reported casualties and losses as a result of these attacks and admitted that some targets were hit but claimed that the damage was limited. Russia has condemned Israel’s actions.